Thinkin' It Over
by AmericanAirlines
Summary: Collection of one-shots based off the music from Hey Arnold! by Jim Lang.
1. Thinkin' It Over

I watched as Helga came stomping down the sidewalk. She looked angry, as she normally does, but she seemed a little more than usual. Normally when we would round the corner we would smack into each other and knock each other to the ground. I would stand up, apologize for knocking her over, and offer my hand to help her up. She would notice it was me and say my name in surprise, even though we were the only two people who run into each other that often in the whole city, shake her head to clear the expression off her face and then smack my hand away and say something along the lines of "Crimeny football-head! Why do you keep running into me? You're always walking around with your head in the clouds!" I would apologize again and we would part ways.

But this time I saw her ahead of time, so I crossed the street to avoid running into her. When I got closer to her she seemed to notice I crossed the street to avoid her. She looked at me with a surprised expression for about a millisecond, but then her famous scowl returned to her face. I frowned and broke eye contact with her, continuing down the street.

I had been doing this a lot lately, it seemed. I would see Helga and then avoid her. I didn't want to hurt her feelings or anything, but this just seemed better for the both of us. No more running into each other. No more trying to get her out of messes she somehow worked her way into at school. No more giving her advice.

She stopped picking on me as well. She would occasionally throw a spit ball my way, but when she saw I never reacted to her she would stop. She would just glare at me. Not that she didn't do that before, but it never really seemed the same as this glare. This one seemed full of...hatred. Or maybe hurt.

It's not that I want to avoid Helga. We're friends. We'll always be friends. It's just I don't know what to say to her anymore. Every time I think that I have it all figured out and I'm finally going to confront her, I see her and it all goes blank. Every time. And then I have to go back to square one and figure everything out again, which was difficult the first time. I still don't know why my mind goes blank when I see her now.

I cross the street and come to Gerald Field. All of the now fifth grade kids were supposed to meet here to practice for a match against the sixth-graders. I briefly wonder why Helga was walking the opposite direction, but the thought leaves my head when I see Gerald waving and walking up to me. I smile at him and we do our hand shake, before I go to put my bat and mitt down by the bench.

I notice Phoebe sitting on the bench, like she usually does when she keeps score, and I smile at her. She returns my smile, but then looks straight ahead again. "Where is Helga?" I ask her. She raises an eyebrow at me, and says "I believe Helga forgot her catchers mitt and returned home to retrieve it." She then turns away from me. I sigh and walk back towards the field. I know she's mad at me for avoiding Helga. And she should be. I feel horrible doing it. And I miss Helga. A lot. But I still haven't figured out what to do.

Suddenly Helga appears on the field, screaming directions at everyone before settling at her spot in front of home base with her catchers mitt. I'm apparently in the outfield, so I grab my mitt and head in that direction. "Come on, football-head we don't have all day!" Helga yells. I sigh and stop at my spot.

Today just isn't my day. I have yet to actually catch a ball, and Helga is yelling at me non stop. "Man, Helga is really on your case today," Gerald mumbled. I sighed and told him I was just ignoring her. I looked up and see that Lila is up to bat and sigh. She is one of our worst batters. Ever since that incident with Timberly a while ago my crush on her has disappeared. We are still great friends, as we have a lot in common, but there are times when I question why I even had feelings for her. We are alike, but theres something about her thats just not what I want. Like I built her up in my head or something and now that my crush is gone I'm focusing on other things that she does. They're not bad things, just things I didn't notice before.

I snap out of my train of thought when I see the ball heading towards me. It bounces on the ground and I look up to see lila crossing third base. "Throw it home, Arnold!" I hear Gearld yell. So I do so. I throw it right at Helga. But instead of landing in her mitt, it hits her right in the head, knocking her to the ground.

I immediately run to her. I'm terrified I gave her amnesia again, or something worse has happened to her. I don't want to think about what the "something worse" could be. When I reach her I kneel next to her. "Helga, I'm so sorry! Are you ok?" I ask. She sits up, rubbing her forehead. She seemed a bit dazed, but then looks at me and a scowl returns to her face.

"What's you're problem?" She yells. I'm a little caught off guard by her reaction, but before I get a chance to reply she speaks. "You can't even throw a ball right, football-head!" I glare back at her. "What's your problem? You've been yelling at me this whole practice!"

"Uhhh, guys," Gerald said, tapping my shoulder. I didn't look around at him. I just kept glaring at Helga and she glared back at me. "Its getting dark and the streetlights are starting to come on. I'm going home." I broke my glare to look up at Gerald and noticed half our classmates walking off the field towards the street. I stood up and faced Gerald. "You go ahead Gerald, I'm going to stay and talk to Helga."

"You going to be ok?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine."

"Ok, see you tomorrow, Arnold," Gerald said as we did our handshake. He spun on his heel and walked towards the street. I turned back to Helga and noticed she was gone. I walked onto the sidewalk and saw Helga walking down it at a fast pace. "Helga, wait!" I said. She shook her head and called over her shoulder "Stuff it, football-head," and started to run.

I saw her cut through Tina park and then lost sight of her. I sigh and stop at the entrance. I walk around the park, looking around for her. I still haven't figured out what I'm going to say to her, but I focus on finding her. I stop by the tree Eugene, Harold and I got stuck in a year ago. I lean against it and rub my eyes. I walk around the tree and see Helga sitting there. I stop in front of her and she looks up at me and jumps.

"Criminy football-head, why are you always sneaking up on me?" She asks, scowling at me. I ignore her question and glare back at her. "Helga, why have you been so awful to me?" I ask her.

"Well maybe if you weren't such a stupid football-head I wouldn't treat you that way."

"Helga, I don't understand. I haven't done anything wrong."

Helga laughed. "Thats a load of bull. You've been avoiding me for weeks. You barely even look my way. I know we're not friends anymore, but I'd like a little respect."

I looked down at the ground. "We're still friends," I said quietly.

Helga rolled her eyes. "Arnold, what friends do you know avoid each other?" I shook my head.

"I'd like to know why," Helga said. She said it without her usual sarcasm. Her voice was so soft I had to look up at her. Her blue eyes were clear, even at night.

Here was my chance to explain. To tell her what has been going through my head the past few months. My previous attempts to think it out beforehand had failed, but maybe just saying on my mind would be easier. And she at least deserves answers.

"I..uh...I've been confused," I said. She raises an eyebrow at me. "Confused? About what?"

"About how I feel about you," I said, scratching the back of my neck nervously. She raises her eyebrows and her eyes go wide, but she doesnt say anything so I continue. "And since I have not figured it out yet, I don't know how to act around you anymore. Or what to say. My mind kind of goes blank when I see you. And thats never happened to me before. So I've been avoiding you until I have everything figured out."

"So you've been avoiding me for weeks because you don't know how you feel about me?" She asks and I nod. She looks me dead in the eyes and with an unreadable expression. "Arnold, if it's taken you this long to "figure out how you feel about me", and have been doing so by avoiding me, you obviously already know," She huffed, walking away.

I chase after her. "Helga, wait! I was just trying to be honest with you. I really don't know how I feel. I don't know what to do."

Helga stopped and turned towards me, scowling. "Use that obnoxiously large head of yours, Arnold. Think about what YOU want, not anybody else. But until you figure it out, Helga G. Pataki doesn't need anymore 'friends'" she said. She turned and walked off.

What did I want? I thought, sitting down under the tree. I knew I didn't want Helga to go back to picking on me. It had been nice not to have her throwing spitballs at me during class. But I did miss her friendship. The small talks she had with me where she wasn't mean or sarcastic. Like when she ran into me after Lila dumped me. Or when she saved me from that awful Summer girl. It seemed like I was the only person who saw the nicer side of Helga.

And I wanted to see more of that. For some reason or another, I always seemed to stand up for Helga. I always told people that there was a better side to Helga. That she was hiding behind some insecurities. But more than anything I wanted those insecurities to go away. I wanted to make them go away. I wanted Helga's good side.

But then there was her bad side. Granted, it wasn't all that bad. She was strong, physically and emotionally. She was smart and funny. She could take care of herself. But when it was bad, it was really bad. She could be mean and nasty. Use "betsy and the five avengers." She was unpredictable. But that made her so much more intriguing.

I wanted to figure out Helga. I wanted her to know that she would be ok with me. To show her good side, despite how horrible her bad one could be. I knew I really, really missed her. Having Helga G. Pataki out of your life certainly was boring. Avoiding her was probably my stupidest idea I've ever had.

Out of all the thoughts flying around my head, I knew one thing was perfectly clear. I ran out of the park and down the street. I kept running, the streetlights passing me in a blur and the warm air brushing past me. I saw her walking up her stoop and called out her name.

She looked at me, surprise in her eyes, and walked back down her stoop. "What are YOU doing here football-head?" She asked.

I bent over holding my knees, trying to catch my breath. "Helga," I said, panting, "You were right."

She raises an eyebrow at me. "You were right that I already knew. I think I've always known how I feel about you. I've just been suppressing it subconsciously, or something," I said. She responds with a small "Oh."

I stand up and walk towards her. "Listen, I'm still confused about a lot of things. But I do know that I don't ever want to go that long with out talking to you ever again." I look down at the ground and scratch the back of my neck.

"...And I want to be with you."

I looked back up at her and she has a huge smile on her face. She looks so happy. It makes my chest fell warm. I can't help but smile back at her.

I take her hand in mine. Its warm. I hadn't realized mine was so cold. But now that it was wrapped in hers, I never wanted to let go.


	2. Headin' South

Too many thoughts swirled around my head. I closed the door to my room and flopped down on by bed, trying to clear my thoughts. _How ironic, you're always lost in you're thoughts and now you want to get away from them._ Helga wasn't even here anymore and I still heard her sarcastic comments. I scoffed and rolled over onto my back.

Helga had a tendency to disappear whenever she got angry, but this time was different. She had been gone for over a week since we fought, and she hasn't responded to any of my attempts to contact her. I had tried to get some information out of Phoebe, but she only told me "when she's ready to talk to you, she will." I've been by her apartment many times, but no one is ever home.

I hardly remember our fight. We had been sitting on my couch watching the movie she decided to watch on TV, Alien vs. Predator. Once it had gone on commercial I muted it. I cleared my throat awkwardly. "So I've been thinking.." I said, cracking my knuckles anxiously. Helga looked over at me from across the couch and smirked. "What a surprise," She said sarcastically. "Yeah..." I said, rubbing the sweat from my palms on my jeans, "I wanted to talk about your job..."

Her smirk immediately fell to a frown. "Arnold, I'm not quitting my job." Helga said flatly. "But you hate it there," I pointed out. "You've been getting pushed around by your boss for years and all you do is desk work. I know this isn't what you wanted. You are always stressed out and angry at the end of the day."

"Yes, and I'm going to keep doing desk work until I get promoted," Helga said stubbornly. "But there are lots of other journalist jobs in the city that you could get easily-"

"But they're not the best, and I want to work for the best," Helga said. I nodded. "Yes I know its the best in the city, but I hate seeing you get yelled at day after day. I know it's your dream but-"

Helga scoffed. "No, you DON'T know. Mr. Hot shot pathologist. You help hundreds of patients a year. Medical school was a breeze for you, and you somehow maintained overseeing the boarding house. As soon as your residency was over the hospital in town jumped at the chance to hire you. I want this, Arnold. I don't care how much I get yelled at or how much I'm overworked."

We continued to argue about her job until it wasn't just about her job. It was about my long hours. It was about her breaking my toaster a couple weeks ago. It was about my cousin Arnie and his family coming to visit in a month even though she hated him. She ended up storming out and telling me not to call her.

Of course I tried to call her about an hour later. I felt terrible about what I said. I wanted to apologize. When she didn't pick up, like she usually does when she's angry at me, I went to the store to picked up her favourite wrestling magazine and walked to her apartment. I learned early on Helga doesn't respond to flowers and chocolates.

When I arrived at her apartment, I knocked on the door, only to be met with silence. Assuming she went to mighty pete or Gerald Field or some place to calm down, I wrote my apology and to call me on a sticky note and stuck it onto the magazine. I slid it under her door and went home.

I hadn't heard from her since, and it was driving me crazy. I couldn't stop thinking about the fight. Or how much I missed her. No matter how bad our fights usually got, we always made up. One of us would usually admit they were wrong and apologize, and everything would be good again. Though that person was usually me, I didn't really care. I love her. I know she can be stubborn and rude and headstrong. But I can't help the way I feel about her. I had this awful sinking feeling in my stomach that kept getting worse every day. I just wanted to work everything out.

I heard my pager go off and walked over to my desk to shut it off. I looked at the page and it said they needed me to come back to the hospital tomorrow morning, even though I had the day off. I sighed and opened a drawer and threw my pager in there. A piece of paper caught my eye, and I pulled it out of the drawer. It read, "Wherever you go, I'll follow behind."

I smiled at it. I receive the letter from Helga about half a year into my expedition in San Lorenzo to find my parents after graduating from undergraduate. About an hour after reading the letter Helga showed up at my doorstep. I think thats when I realized I was in love with her. Though we learnedthat my parents had died, she was there to help me through it. She helped me apply to medical school and stay positive despite what happened. And I should be helping her.

I stood up from my desk and walked to the door when I heard a knock. I looked opened the door and saw Helga standing in the doorway. "I..uh...came here to apologize," she said. I grabbed her arm and pulled her into a hug, resting my chin on the top of her head. "You're not mad at me? I was gone for a week," She said. "No, I've missed you so much. And I should be the one apologizing. I should've supported you," I said.

"No, no. You were right," Helga said. She pulled away from my hug and looked at me. "My job was making me angry and I should've stood up for myself." I raised an eyebrow at her. "Was?" I asked.

She began pacing around my room. "Well I went back to work to give my boss a piece of my mind. To tell him he couldn't treat me like that and that I deserved respect. I mean, criminy, I had been working there for years! I didn't need to prove my dedication anymore!" She said angrily. "Oh no Helga, what happened?" I asked, afraid of the answer.

"Well after I yelled my little speech at him," she said, stoping right in front of me, "He promoted me." I smiled so wide my face hurt. "Congratulations Helga! I'm so proud of you!"I said, going to wrap her in my arms, but she began pacing again.

"Yeah, yeah, but theres a catch. I got my fancy-shmancy journalist job, but I have to go to Costa Rica for a year for my first assignment,"She said. "Costa Rica?" I repeated. "Mhm, San José, to be exact. They sent me there this past week to 'test out the waters' or something. I didn't want to tell you until it was official."

I blinked, surprised at the information she just told me. "I'll go with you," I said. Helga spun around and glared at me. "Arnold, you can't just come with me," She said. "Yes I can," I said simply.

"No, you can't. You have a job, and the boarding house. Your whole life is here!" She said. "I'm not going to let you pick up everything and move. I'll see you in a year or something-"

I grabbed both her hands. "Helga, I can practice medicine in Costa Rica. I might have to take a licensing exam to be able to, but I can speak Spanish so it wouldn't be a big transition for me. The boarders can take care of themselves for a year. I'll put Mr. Potts in charge," I said. "Anything else?"

She crossed her arms in front of her chest. "I won't let you," She said stubbornly. I reached over to the desk and handed her a piece of paper. She looked down at it and raised her eyebrows.

"Wherever you go, I'll follow behind."

 **A/N:** So I decided to make this into a collection of one shots. The titles come from song titles by Jim Lang, who wrote the music in Hey Arnold. This song, Headin' South, is one of my favourites. If you haven't heard the songs I encourage you to look them up on youtube, they really are great. Please let me know if you see any errors!


	3. Arnold and Mickey K

The can in front of me rattled as it hit the sidewalk. I walked up to it and kicked it again, keeping a steady rhythm as I walked down the sidewalk. I was in no hurry to get home to get home. I never really minded having swim practice at 4:30 am and then again after school. Bob and Miriam _finally_ noticed me because I was the best. I set numerous school records, and when the season was over at school I excelled in club. I loved to swim. But _criminy_ its all Bob ever talked about! You could shave a tenth of a second off your 200m butterfly if you did this. Make sure you keep your head down when you dive off the podium. Never, ever false start. My mom was the only one who's advice I'd listen to. I mean she was an olympic class swimmer, for crying out loud. She knows what she's talking about, though she rarely gave me advice seeing as the only time she wasn't passed out was at my meets. But Bob always seemed to think he knew better. I'd be happy to delay his one of his lectures on how my practice went today.

One of my favourite things about the end of practice was seeing Arnold. He and Gerald would usually get out of basketball practice around the same time swim practice ended. He would usually pass by me while he and Gerald walked home and ask me how my practice was. They were small moments, but they made my heart flutter. Today, though, I stayed late to work on my breast stroke because I had a meet this weekend. So I continued to kick my can, alone.

I felt the water from my hair drip down my shoulders. I stopped and sighed. I knew I should've put my hair up after my shower. No matter how much I tried to dry it with a towel, it still stayed wet because of how thick it was. My back was probably soaking wet. I squeezed my hair out, letting excess water hit the ground, and then I threw it up into a high ponytail above my shoulders. When I was satisfied that my hair was no longer leaking down my back, I turned to continue walking.

But then I heard him call my name. "Hey, Helga," Arnold said from behind me, walking to stand next to me. My heart started to beat at an obnoxious pace and shivers went down my spine when he said my name. "Hey, Arnold," I said, trying to keep my cool. He smiled at me, and I swear I melted a little. "What are you doing out so late? Didn't your practice end hours ago?

I shrugged and started walking again, with Arnold falling in step next to me. "I stayed late to get a leg up. I have a meet this weekend that I really want to win." Arnold chuckled. "Trying to set another record?" He asked. I rolled my eyes. "So what if I am? What then?" Arnold looked at me then turned his attention forward. "Then I'd say I was proud of you," he said.

I inhaled through my nose sharply. I always wondered how Arnold knew just what to say to get to me. It was like a sixth-sense or something. I glanced over at him, his attention remained forward, but he was smirking. If I didn't know any better, I'd think he knew saying things like that got to me. "Well I don't need you to be proud of me, I can win with or without it." Arnold nodded. "I know you can, I've always admired your determination."

I chewed on the inside of my cheek and tried to brush off another one of his compliments by changing the subject. "So why are you so late?" I asked. "I was helping one of the sophomores on the team with his jump shots. He wants to see if he can become good enough to start and I said I would help him out. He really has improved," Arnold said, smiling. I let a small smile appear on my face. Typical Arnold, helping others out. He always seemed so happy when he did. That's something I admired about him. Well, _loved_ about him, but there was no way I was going to tell him that. So I just nodded as we turned the corner to the street my house was on.

"So are you nervous for your meet this weekend?" Arnold asked. I scoffed at the question. "Nervous? Of course not." Arnold looked over at me. "Really? I heard you were facing one of the best swimmers in the state." I sighed and placed my hands on my hips. "Fine, I might be a _little_ nervous. But nothing Helga G. Pataki can't handle." Arnold and I stopped in front of my stoop. "Well, whenever I get nervous I take my ball that Mickey Kaline signed with me. It's kind of like a good luck charm," He pulled the ball out of his bag and showed it to me. "I know its just a ball, but it gives me confidence, you know? Maybe you could use something like that." He put the ball back into his bag. Little did he know I thought of him whenever I got nervous. "Yeah...maybe," I said. "Well, good luck, Helga. Though I don't think you'll need it," Arnold said. He waved goodbye and turned to walk down the street.

I watched Arnold walk down the street before climbing in my stoop and walking into my house. As soon as the door shut behind me Bob appeared in the foyer. "You're late, Helga. It better be because you stayed late for extra practice!" I scowled and waked past him. "Of course, _Bob_." He turned and followed me before returning to the living room. "Good, you need it. You have a big meet this weekend. And you _will_ win. The Pataki's are winners." I saluted at him as he sat in his chair in front of the TV before climbing the stairs to my room. My heart was still fluttering from talking to Arnold. I smiled as I collapsed on my bed and fell asleep.

I woke up to the sound of my phone ringing. I squinted at the clock. It read 11:27 pm. I reached over from my bed to grab my phone off the nightstand and put it to my ear. "Hello?" I said groggily. "Hey, Helga." I sat up straight on my bed, now wide awake. "Arnold?" I asked. "I'm sorry to call you so late, but I was just looking for my Mickey Kaline ball and couldn't find it. Do you remember if I put it back in my bag when I saw you?" I blew a few strands of hair out of my face. "Yeah, I remember you putting it back in your bag. Did you see if you dropped it on the street?"

"That's what I'm afraid of. But it's too dark to search now. I'll have to look tomorrow," Arnold said. "I hope you find it, Arnold. I know its important to you," I said. "Thanks, Helga. Goodnight." "Good night, Arnold," I said quietly. I put my phone back on my nightstand. I groaned and fell against my pillows. I was faced with a dilemma. On one hand Arnold, the love of my life, was distressed. I knew he wouldn't stop worrying until he found his stupid Mickey Kaline ball. On the other hand, I was really, really tired. I sighed and cursed my feelings as I put a coat on and grabbed my flashlight.

"Criminy, where is this stupid ball!" I groaned. It had been a freaking hour! I searched up and down both my street and his street and still didn't have a clue where it could be. And it didn't help that I was exhausted. "I'm going to look down vine street again and if I don't find it I'm calling it quits." I turned the corner and walked towards Arnold's house. I sat down on his fire escape, contemplating what to do next. Then a pink curly tail whisked past me.

I looked towards the pig, who stopped and looked at me. The dumb pig had Arnold's ball in it's mouth. I rose off the fire escape slowly. "Come here, Abner, you sweet little pig," I said in a sickly sweet voice. I inched a little closer, leaning forward to grab the ball. Abner squealed and ran off. I growled. "Stupid pig! You can run, but you cant hide!"

I followed the pig and it ran into Arnold's back yard. I climbed the fence and tried to sneak up behind Abner. I jumped up to tackle him but instead landed in a mud puddle. I screamed in frustration and slammed my hands down on the ground, causing more mud to splash up on me. A light turned on in the house. I panicked and hid behind the trash cans.

"What in the blazin world was that?" Arnold's grandfather yelled. He walked to the window and peered out. "Must be the pig again. Stupid thing always running into trash cans..." He mumbled and turned off the light. I breathed a sigh of relief and moved to get up, but there was a weight on my feet. I looked down to see Abner asleep on my feet with the ball still in his mouth. "If you didn't cause so much trouble for me, this would be kind of cute,"I said, slowly leaning down to take the ball out of his mouth. When I finally got it, I had a silent victory, despite the fact that the ball was covered in saliva. I quickly walked home, cleaned off the ball and grabbed a bag to put it in so Abner wouldn't get it again.

When I reached Arnolds doorstep I placed the ball in a bag and wrote a note that simply said "I found your ball," so he wouldn't know it was me. I looked back at the bag that contained the ball one last time before heading home, stripping out of my clothes and falling into bed. It was 1:30 am. Only 3 hours until practice. **Great.**

Morning practice, school and after-school practice went by in a blur. I was too tired to pay attention to anything and my last practice before my meet the next day was a complete flop. Luckily my coach let practice out early so we could get a good nights rest. I dragged my feet down my street to my stoop. I was so tired I didn't even notice that someone was sitting there.

"Helga?" Arnold said. "Hmmm?" I replied confused, blinking rapidly so my vision would focus. I looked down at who was sitting on my steps. "Arnold? What are you doing here?" I asked, sitting down next to him.

"You found my Mickey Kaline ball," He said, holding it in his palm. Heat went through my body and my eyes went wide. "What are you talking about? No I didn't," I said in a voice that was much higher than usual. Arnold reached into his pocket and pulled out the note I wrote last night and handed it to me. "I found your ball," I read, "It doesn't say that I was the one who found it."

"You wrote the note in your purple pen, Helga. I know it was you. You must have been up all night," He said. I looked at the ground. "It wasn't all night..." I mumbled. He wrapped his arms around me in a hug. "This ball means a lot to me, and it really touched me that you found it. You shouldn't have stayed up so late when you have early morning practices. I don't know how to thank you."

I tensed up but my chest felt like it would explode my heart was beating so fast. I wondered if Arnold could feel it. But before I could respond, he let go. He put the ball in my hand. "I want you to have it," He said. I immediately shook my head and tried to give it back to him. "No, Arnold, I can't take this. Then I will be to blame when our undefeated basketball team starts to lose. What will be your good luck charm?" I said.

Arnold turned and smiled at me. "You," he said. I rolled my eyes, though inwardly my heart was fluttering. "Arnold, I rarely go to basketball games because of my swim schedule," I said. "I know, and I don't need you to show up at games," He said, lacing his fingers in mine. "When I think of you, I think of someone who has confidence. Someone who is driven and hard-working. When you show up at meets you know you're the best, not because of your coaches or your teammates or your family, but because you know you've worked the hardest you possibly could to get to where you are. Because thats what you want. So whenever I have a big game or a test or something, I'll think and try to be like you. And that will be my good luck charm." He slowly leaned forward and brushed his lips against mine, sending jolts of electricity throughout my body. He leaned back and squeezed my hand, smiling widely. "You should go get some sleep, you have a big meet tomorrow. I hope the baseball brings you good luck," He said, winking at me.

I ended up winning my meet, beating the "best swimmer in the state" by two whole seconds. Which, by the way, broke yet another school record. I don't think the ball brought me that good luck, which I left at home, tucked away for safe keeping. I obviously made my own luck by working by butt off practicing day in and day out. Though I think it helped that Arnold was there, cheering me on from the stands.


	4. Mom and Dad

**A/N:** This is sort of a continuation of the second chapter in this collection, _Headin' South._ Thanks for reading!

"I love you."

"I love you too, and don't worry. I have a good feeling about today. We're going to find them."

Arnold nodded. "I hope you're right."

I smiled at him but the smile disappeared when he turned away. We continued to walk up the path cut ahead of us by the group we were traveling with. They continued to cut down the overgrown plants with large machetes. Arnold reached for one and helped clear the path, sweat dripping down the back of his neck.

I wanted to be hopeful for Arnold. I wanted to find his parents. More than anything I wanted him to be happy. But lately he seemed to have lost hope. It had been a month since I traveled down here to see him and we hadn't found anything. Yet. I was still determined. I knew that even though Arnold had started to think the worst, he still held on to that small strand of hope he always clung to throughout our childhood. And I wasn't about to let him give that up.

I wiped the sweat of my forehead with the back of my hand and walked a small distance behind Arnold, observing the forest that surrounded us. Though it was hot and humid and I had been bitten by more mosquitos than I ever had been back in the city, I had to admit it was beautiful. Though I could do without the endless mile hikes we took. And the sleeping on the hard ground at night, though sleeping was an incorrect term since I sleep a total of 30 minutes a night. There were about a million things I could complain about. I hate camping, after all, and this wasn't much different aside from the fact that we could be killed at any second by large cats or violet villagers. But I wouldn't tell Arnold any of that. I would hike across South America, face a 50 jaguars and sleep on the ground for the rest of my life for him.

One of the botanists in our group yelled for our attention and I snapped out of my thoughts. I looked up and saw that she was far ahead of me. I hadn't realized I was walking so slowly. I jogged over and met Arnold who was standing next to her, looking at the ground.

She pushed over some of the small plants and it revealed some burnt slabs. "It looks like something was set on fire?" Helga said.

"Not just something, it's a metal. It looks like it was part of something man-made," the botanist said, holding it closer to her face to examine it.

"But Dr. Schmidt, I thought you said that this part of the jungle was uninhabited by people?" Arnold said.

She nodded. "Thats, what I thought, yes." She began to search the ground for more evidence. I bent down on my knees beside her and helped her. I crawled a few yards away when my knee hit something hard. I hissed slightly at the pain and then picked up the thing my knee ran into. It was long and metal, also charred like the metal Dr. Schmidt found.

"Its a peinilla," Arnold said from behind me. I jumped and turned to look at him. "Its a type of machete used for killing livestock…" He continued. I could tell that he was starting to become fearful again. And for once in my life couldn't think of what to say to him. Luckily Dr. Schmidt called to us again.

"I'd like to go back to camp and look at these more closely. Lets keep walking for a couple of miles to search for more evidence and then return to camp," she said.

I nodded and rose to my feet. Arnold turned away from me quickly and returned to the group to begin chopping down plants again. I sighed and handed Dr. Schmidt the peinilla. I walked behind Arnold again, keeping my head to the ground to search and to avoid Arnolds gaze so he wouldn't see that I was now worried too.

Hours had soon passed and my legs had begun to feel like jello. My clothes were sticking to me, drenched in sweat. No one was talking, and it began to make me feel uneasy. I wanted to look up at Arnold, but instead kept my eyes glued to the ground, still hoping to find anything that would make the sinking feeling my stomach go away.

I kicked up a few leaves with my foot for good measure when I saw Arnold veer from the path out of the corner of my eye. I looked up and watched him walk a few yards and then stop infront of something. I expected him to call the group over but he just stood there, with his shoulders slumped down. I glanced over at our party, who was still continuing down the path, and then walked over to stand behind Arnold.

There was a large stones sticking out of the ground as if it were placed there. Messy Spanish words that I couldn't understand were covering it. I ran my eyes over it and saw the names of Arnold's parents. I grabbed Arnold's arm, but it remained stiff. "What does it say?" I asked.

I looked at him, but he kept his gaze on the rock. He stayed silent for a few minutes, before clearing his throat and reading aloud the writing on the rock. "Here lie Miles and Stella Shortman. They fought bravely and will be remembered fondly. June 1998."

Arnold face was full of hurt. I pulled his arm and turned him towards me. His eyes met mine and were glistening with tears, though mine had already escaped and were falling down my cheeks. He wrapped his arms around me as I cried, and we slowly rocked back and forth. He buried his head into my shoulder and started to sob, his body shaking slightly. I held onto him tightly while my tears stained his shirt.

My head was spinning. I couldn't imagine the hurt he felt right now. After all this time. Searching, hoping, praying that he would find his parents, he found them deceased. He would never see them again. His body shook from another sob. It really hurt to see him like this. And I felt terrible for giving him false hope. That small thread of hope he was holding on to is probably obliterated now. And there was nothing I could do except hold him.

The group eventually returned and found us, and we all returned to camp. Some villagers visited us that night and told us how his parents were killed with the peinilla that we found. They said that they were protecting the secrecy of the green eyed people and how they had cured the whole village of a fatal disease. They had saved the lives of many. Arnold seemed slightly comforted by this, but remained emotionless. When went to our tent for the night I touched his arm delicately to get his attention. He turned and gave me a small smile, before it disappeared and he went to lie in his sleeping bag. I starred at him, worried, before climbing into my own sleeping bag. I heard him taking a few shaky deep breaths. I scooted closer to him and wrapped my arms around him, and he turned to face me as I held him. I knew this was going to be hard for him, but I was now focused on helping him through this mourning process. I knew there was a very fine line you could cross when faced with tragedy, and it didn't take much to change you completely. But I wouldn't let that happen to Arnold.

We returned back to Hillwood the next week, and Arnold and his grandparents held a funeral for his parents. I stood by him for the next month or so, helping him with whatever he needed.

I walked up the stairs to his room and closed the door behind me. Arnold was sitting at his desk, answering letters he had received from our classmates , friends and relatives with their condolences. I snatched the letter he was writing out of his hands.

Arnold turned and raised his eyebrows at me. "Helga, what are you doing? I was-"

I scoffed and put my hands on my hips. "Yes, I know what you were doing." I slammed a piece of paper down on the desk in front of him. "Whats this?" He asked.

"You're going to apply to medical school," I said. Arnold sighed. "Helga, I don't think I should. After everything thats happened-"

"Everything that has happened gives you all the more reason to apply! Arnold, you always dreamed of becoming a doctor and helping people. You have been helping people since you were 3 years old! And now you have the chance to help people like your parents did. And there's no way in hell I'm going to let you give up on that. You're applying. AND you're going to get in."

Arnold shook his head. "Its too late to apply, they stopped taking applicants," he said.

I smirked. "Do you really think something that small would stop Helga G. Pataki? I wrote a letter to the Dean explaining your situation and I included your MCAT scores. They were so impressed they said if you can finish the application and get your final grades transferred they would let you come in for an interview."

Arnold eyes went wide and my smile grew at the look of shock on his face. "Helga! Thats incredible!" He said, hugging me excitedly. I pushed him away gently, but grabbed his hand. "You're interview is Thursday, so you better get practicing. Though if you ask me you're a shoo-in," I said proudly.

He shook his head in disbelief. "I don't know how to thank you." I rolled my eyes. "You can thank me by getting in, Arnold-o. Now lets get practicing," I said, as I sat in the chair next to him.

He turned to me and smiled. "I love you," He said. My heart fluttered. I had heard him say that about a million times now, and it still shocked me to hear it. I could stand to hear it a million more.

"I love you too."


	5. The Kids Finally Get It

I sat in the snow on the edge of the ice tying my skates as Helga skated around me. "Come on, football-head, before the ice melts!" Helga yelled playfully at me.

I tied the last knot and skated towards her. She blushed slightly as I took her hand. At least I hope she did. It was hard to tell considering her cheeks were already pink from the cold. I tugged on her hand and we began skating together around the perimeter of the ice. She started to skate faster so she was slightly in front of me.

"Can't keep up football-head?"Helga joked. She turned and looked at me, a smile in her eyes.

I laughed, matching my pace with hers. "You don't have to worry about me, I'm an excellent skater."

"Uh-huh," she laughed, smirking over at me. "Remember the last time we were here?"

"How could I forget? You ran into me and I fell backwards. I had a knot on the top of my head for a month!"

"I'm pretty sure it was you that ran into me. Besides, you're the one who ran onto the ice out of nowhere! What in the world was going through your giant head that day?"

"Well I remember talking to Grandpa…"

 _"I can't take it anymore, Grandpa!" I yelled as I paced back and forth in front of him._

 _"Uh-oh. This sounds like one of your painful yet oh-so illuminating boy-hood problems. Let's hear it, Arnold," Grandpa said, sitting down and leaning his elbows on the kitchen table._

 _"Its Helga!"_

 _"You mean your little friend with the pink dress and one eyebrow?"_

 _"She doesn't have a unibrow anymore, Grandpa," I said flatly, sitting down in the chair next to him._

 _"Oh, right. Well what's the problem?"_

 _"Well today at school Helga was teasing me like usual-"_

 _"Hasn't she been teasing you since elementary school?" Grandpa asked._

 _"Yeah she has. I usually just ignore her, but for some reason today I just...snapped," I said, looking down at my hands dejectedly. "After school I pulled her aside on the sidewalk. I took her by the shoulders and told her to stop. That I was sick of her and her stupid bullying and I wasn't going to take it anymore."_

 _"Uh-oh. And how did she respond to that?" Grandpa said._

 _"She actually looked…upset. Like she was going to cry. So I did something I shouldn't have…"_

 _Grandpa leaned forward, signaling for me to go on._

 _I signed and sat down in the chair next to Grandpa. "She just looked so sad and suddenly I felt really bad about yelling at her. And I wanted to make her feel better so I…"_

 _"Well, what did you do, Shortman?"_

 _"I kind of…kissed her."_

 _Grandpa burst out laughing, holding his sides._

 _"Grandpa! I'm embarrassed enough, I feel terrible about doing that. Now she's going to kill me at school tomorrow! What should I do?" I yelled, hiding my red face in my hands._

 _"Follow me into the living room, Arnold, I've got something to show ya," Grandpa said, still laughing._

 _I followed behind him, sitting in the olive love seat next to the coffee table. Grandpa was looking through the books on the book shelf. He carefully pulled out an old photo album, flipping to a page in the middle of the book and setting it down in front of me._

 _I moved to sit at the edge of the chair to look at the picture. It was a faded black and white picture of Grandpa as a child. He was smiling while a girl was holding up two fingers as bunny ears behind his head and sticking her tongue out._

 _"This is Gertie right? The girl who tormented you in elementary school?" I asked._

 _Grandpa nodded. "Yep! She was really something. Always getting me in trouble and picking on me," He said sitting down in the seat next to me, grabbing a cookie from the plate that sat on the coffee table._

 _I looked back down at the picture. "You never told me how you got her to stop tormenting you," I said, reaching for a cookie as well._

 _Grandpa chucked. "I married her."_

 _I spit out my cookie and started choking. "Arnold that was a perfectly good oatmeal raisin cookie!" Grandpa said._

 _"You what?" I yelled, trying to catch my breath._

 _Grandpa sat back further in his chair. "Your in high school now, so it's time you knew."_

 _"Knew what? That Grandma is the girl who tormented you every day? How did this even happen?"_

 _"Well it's a long story Shortman. Maybe I'll tell it at the reception when you and your little friend get married."_

 _"Grandpa!"_

 _Grandpa doubled over in laughter again. "Oh I'm a willey old coot!" He said. "But I will tell you this: Women like your grandmother and your little friend are never like what they seem."_

 _"Helga's not what she seems like? Thats your advice thats going to get me out of her killing me?" I said._

 _"That and never eat raspberries!"_

 _I shook my head and stood up from my chair. "I'm going to go apologize. Hopefully she won't punch me to a pulp before I get to," I said, walking out of the room._

 _"Make sure you don't have raspberry cake at your wedding, Shortman!" Grandpa called after me._

 _I sighed and grabbed my coat off the coat rack before opening the front door. I stepped aside as a bunch of animals lead by Abner ran into the house, and then closed the door behind me. I remembered I hearing Helga and some of the other kids planning to go skating on the pond in Tina Park. I pulled my gloves out of my pockets and started to head in that direction._

 _I still couldn't believe Grandma is Gertie. The girl that tormented Grandpa day in and day out. I sighed and walked towards the pond._

 _There were people skating all around the pond. Couples, kids, and even a dog managed get onto the ice. But I couldn't see Helga. Maybe if I walk a little past the edge I could see better? I thought. I took a few steps onto the ice, turning to get a better look when something ran into me, causing me to fall backwards on my head. I sat up, rubbing it. Rather someone ran into me._

 _"Watch it football-head! Why are you always running into me?" Helga said, struggling to get back up on her skates._

 _I ignored her and stood up on the ice. "I came to apologize for today."_

 _Helga blushed, but it quickly disappeared. "Apologize for what?" She asked._

 _"For me yelling at you. And…" I looked down at my hands, and gulped, "And for kissing you."_

 _Helga crossed her arms. "Right. That."_

 _I looked up at her. "Listen, I know I shouldn't have done that, but-"_

 _"Don't worry about it."_

 _"What?"_

 _"I said don't worry about it."_

 _"But Helga-"_

 _"Look, football-head. Its your lucky day. I'm going to let you off with a warning this time. But try that again and you'll be meeting with old betsy and the five avengers. Got it?" She asked as she raised her fist to my face._

 _I gulped. "Got it." I watched as she began to skate away from me. "But wait, I thought you'd be mad at me? Punch me to a pulp!"_

 _Helga turned around and looked at me. "Yeah well I guess people aren't always what you expect, football-face. See ya." She turned and skated away._

 _"Yeah I guess they're not," I said._

"…And thats how I finally figured out that I actually 'liked-you liked you," I said.

"You're lucky that I loved you so much I didn't punch you that day," Helga scoffed.

"You were never going to punch me."

Helga shrugged her shoulders. "Maybe so. That kiss kind of rattled me."

I gripped her hand a little tighter and she smirked at me.

"Wow. It took you 13 years and your grandpa's help to figure out what I've known since we were three," Helga said, smirking up at me. She let go of my hand and began skating backwards in front of me, weaving her skates back and forth. "You'd think with such an abnormally large head you would've figured it out earlier, football-head."

"Well you've always said I was a little dense back then. Plus the bullying probably didn't help."

Helga turned sharply on the corner of the ice and began to skate forward again. "Whatever you say, Arnold," she called over her shoulder as she skated away from me.

I chuckled watched her skate toward the middle of the pond, drawing figure eights with her skates. Despite her using my name more often now, it still gave me butterflies when she did it. I sped up to catch up with her, placing my hands on her waist to stop her from twirling. She faced me, her face lit up with her smile.

"Lets go get some hot chocolate," I offered.

We removed our skates and walked to the nearby vendor. We grabbed our hot chocolate and sat on a nearby bench.

"So Grandma mentioned you the other day."

Helga took a sip of her hot chocolate. "Oh yeah? What did she have to say?"

"She wanted to know what I was getting you for Christmas. She said I needed to get something 'fit for a first lady,'" I said.

Helga shook her head. "Arnold you know I don't need anything extravagant. I'm happy with something simple. Like a scarf or something."

"I know, and I told her that. But she insisted. She actually gave me something I think you might like," I said.

Helga chuckled. "Well who knows Eleanor Roosevelt better than Gertie," she said. "I guess I'll have to wait until Christmas to see what this mysterious gift is."

"Maybe not," I said. I took a deep breath and reached inside my jacket. I grabbed the small box and took her hand, kneeling on the ground. I wobbled a bit, but dug my knee into the snow to keep my balance. When I looked up at Helga her eyes were wide with shock. I gulped.

"What are you doing?" She said.

I ignored her question and tried to force out what I was trying to say before I completely forgot it again. "Helga, this bench right here means a lot to me," I said.

"The…bench? What?" She asked.

I cleared my throat, trying to explain without sounding like a crazy person. "Uh…yes this bench. This is the bench I sat on when I finally figured out I had feelings for you… and later told you I loved you. The same bench you fell out of a tree behind after Lila broke up with me. What you said that day really meant a lot to me, even as a stupid kid. But most of all, I like this bench because of this," I said, pointing to the small drawing of a heart that had A+H in the middle.

"I forgot I did that," Helga said. "That was back in sixth grade."

I nodded. "I found it a couple of months after that day I kissed you. I was going to ask you on a date but I was terrified. I convinced myself that it was a stupid idea and that I shouldn't do it."

"I remember that. You came up to me in school and basically screamed at me."

"I didn't say it made me any less nervous," I mumbled. "But when I sat down on this bench I saw the heart. And for some reason it gave me hope. That maybe you and I could be as happy as the couple who drew this."

Helga snickered. "You didn't think A+H meant Arnold+Helga?"

I rolled my eyes. "I guess I didn't put two and two together at the time. After that I went and asked you out, and that was the best thing I've ever done." I reached to open the box, revealing a small silver ring with a diamond in the center and two small sapphires on either side of it.

Helga's eyes grew larger, if that were possible. "Is that-"

I gulped, hoping she didn't see how badly my hands were shaking. "Helga Geraldine Pataki," I said, smirking as she cringed at her middle name. "Will you-"

"Yes!" She said. I was so surprised I almost dropped the ring. I stared at her dumbfounded. Did she just say yes? Or was I just imagining that. My heart was pounding so loud I couldn't hear I thing.

"Mary me?" I said.

Helga smiled at me. Her eyes were so bright. Her hair looked so soft as it blew across her face. She reached up and tucked a strand behind her ear. She looked so happy. I couldn't help but smile back.

"Yes," She said. I knew I heard her right that time. I stood up and kissed her. It was like every fears and inhibitions were melted away just by one word. One amazing word.

Helga pulled away and pressed her forehead against mine. Her breath ticked my nose and I smiled.

"Well are you going to put that ring on my finger or what, football-head?" Helga asked, pulling her forehead away from mine and smiling at me.

I grabbed the ring and slid it onto her finger. Helga held her hand up to her face. "Its beautiful," She said. "So Gertie just now gave you this?"

I rubbed the back of my neck. "Well, actually she gave it to me around the time we first started dating. I told her I didn't want it back then but she said to hold onto it anyway. That I would need it one day. I guess she always knew."

Helga smiled and rested her head on my shoulder. "I guess so."


End file.
